The Box
by Opalora
Summary: Mal gets an odd looking package and won't share it with the crew. What could be hiding from them?
1. The Box

Chapter 1: The Box

The post office was usually busier when they made their usual trip to gather any letters and packages; but at that moment it was only the crew of Serenity, excluding Inara who was out doing business of her own. It was late in the evening and they had been out shopping and getting their supplies set up for their next job. The clerk behind the desk was a thin weedy looking man. He had passed off the rest of the crews post and the final object was a dark coloured box.

The box was smallish, no bigger than a bread bin. It was dark in colour and it had Mals name in clear writing on it. Mal took it from the counter and was surprised how light it was and unlike his usual packages Mal did not seem to be inclined to open in front of the crew. He peered into a small crack in the lid, and his genial 'Post Day' smile had evaporated into nothing and he looked around before trying to surreptitiously slide the box under his arm without anyone looking into it. However his careful manoeuvre was not missed by the keen-eyed gunhand.

"Hey Mal, What's in the box?" Jayne asked reaching out a hand expectantly as if he was entitled to ten percent of what lay within it.

"It's my business alright!" Mal exclaimed and pulled it away from Jayne's outstretched fingers. Kaylee saw the box tucked under Mals arm and she too became intrigued by its contents.

"C'mon captain!" Kaylee said with her usual eager grin. "We share what we get in the post. 'Taint like you got anythin' to hide." Mal glared at her. Even when she had her innocent girl puppy eyes Mal found it easy to resist her curiosity.

"No Kaylee, this box is my own private business, don't want none of you pryin' or peekin' or pokin' into it." He said irritably. He looked around at his nosing crew with his usual steely gaze. He patted the side of the box. "This is mine, and don't get any ideas about getting into it with your sticky fingers when I'm not around, it's gonna be locked up tighter than..." He struggled for an analogy "something that's extremely tight. And if I catch any of you sneakin' into my bunk I'll have you out of the airlock before you can say 'what's in the box?'" The only two who seemed unaffected by his threats were Zoe and River. Both seemed to be giving him identical knowing smiles. He didn't like it when they poked into things they ought not poke into, and he would make sure the contents of the box would remain a mystery to all his crew, even the mind readin' moon brain, even his first mate Zoe.

Mal stalked out of the post office mumbling about nosy crew wanting their noses cut off for stickin' them in places they shouldn't. He was going back to the ship to find a hiding place for his box until he found the right moment to open it again and fully examine its contents. He was sure the others would return at their own leisure and he hoped that when that time came they had forgotten about the box and what possible and impossible treasures had been hidden within it. He was sure at this very moment their imaginations were running wild at the possibilities, the contraband, the money, the gifts, the gold, the guns the information that could be hidden inside the box. He smirked, they could imagine all they wanted, what was inside was for him and him alone and he was not about to share it with anyone. Not even Zoe.

The rest of the crew exchanged glances and carried on with their own pieces of post each of their minds roaming at what the captain could be hiding from them. They all knew he had secrets, and they wondered what possible secrets he could be hiding in that box.


	2. It's none of my Business

Chapter 2: It's none of my business

"So what do you think the Captains got in that box?" Kaylee asked Simon as they were sitting together on the sofa outside the infirmary. She was twirling her hair and staring at him with those big brown eyes. She was smiling at him and he smiled back at her. She was passing time until he was in the mood for a quick rut in her bunk. He hadn't been shy since Miranda, they had spent many hours in enjoying each others company as he had politely put it, but as the weeks turned into months he seemed less inclined for the act and seemed to want to spend more time doing other things.

"I don't know Kaylee." he said with a disinterested tone. "I don't think we'll ever know." He leaned back and tucked his hands behind his head and closed his eyes.

"You ain't even the least bit curious as to what he's hidin'?" She asked her head cocked to the side and poking at his shoulder. His eyes opened and he turned to look at her again. She blinked her long lashes. He had to admit she was exceedingly pretty and could outshine a few of the girls he had known on Osiris. He reached a hand up and touched her cheek. A little make up and the right accessories she could be a real beauty, but he was sure life on a core planet would not suit Kaylee. She was too much of a free spirit and on a core world; no-one would let a woman anywhere near the motor of a lawnmower, let alone the engine of a starship.

"You've got a bit of grease on your nose." he said. Her cheeks flushed red and she slipped her sleeve over the palm of her hand and reached up to rub it off, but he caught her hand in his own and leaned in. "I like it." he whispered in her air and she smiled wider.

"So you don't wonder at all what he's got in that box?" Kaylee asked giving Simons hand a squeeze. He shrugged. He not had given the box barely a second thought after the captain had made his demand that no-one was to go looking for it. Simon was often comforted by any rules the Captain laid down. It gave a sense of order to a 'verse he did not fully understand. If the Captain said something that even sounded like a rule, Simon was happy to comply, and besides what kind of box would have an adverse effect on his life on the ship? He was sure the box would make things go wrong if he himself went looking for it and discovered its contents.

"I don't think it's any of my business what he got in the post." He said. "I'm sure if it was anything dangerous or important he would tell us or warn us." He doubted that the Captain would bring anything dangerous on board, he told himself he doubted but it was more like he hoped it wasn't anything that could endanger him, his sister or the crew.

"I'm sure you're right." Kaylee said slightly bored with Simons' lack of imagination. She was hoping to hear some kind of elaborate story as to what could possibly be hiding in it. She sighed, Simon was very lacking in the creativity department. He assumed it would have been his schooling as a doctor, not used to the freedoms the 'verse could offer.

"The Captain is a very private person Kaylee, he probably has good reason for not telling us what he got in the post. It is probably something very personal, and it is bad manners to pry into a persons' personal life." Simon said. Kaylee nodded, she knew how crude it must sound to him, her asking questions about the captain and his privacy. She sighed and her smile began to fade away.

"Okay." She said in a slightly disheartened tone. Simon caught the hurt in her voice and he suddenly realised how she took what he said and he kicked himself mentally for his stupidity. He grinned at her and raised his eyebrows suggestively.

"So what do you think is in the box?" He asked in a mischievous tone.


	3. A Gift

Chapter 3: A gift

"I think maybe it's a gift." Kaylee said her smile returning. Simon smiled and looked at her intently; he loved it when she talked about nothing. Sometimes she could make nothing sound like everything. And he liked being with Kaylee, she always found something to talk about even in the seemingly endless boredom of the black. Sometimes her constant cheerfulness and endless childlike curiosity wore on him, but he enjoyed her company none-the-less.

"A gift? From who?" Simon asked curiously. Kaylee looked down at the floor for a moment then looked at Simon reluctantly as if she thought he would think whatever she said was stupid.

"I don't know." She said with a shrug. "Maybe someone the captain helped. I mean, you remember the train job when we took that Medicine back to the folk in Paradiso? Captain does a lot of things like that, he just don't like to talk about it is all."

"So you think someone was returning a favour?" Simon asked. Kaylee shrugged again.

"We done a lot of jobs out here in the black that don't help no-one but ourselves and those that pay us. Those jobs don't hurt folk either, 'cept maybe the Alliance. Then sometimes there are Jobs which help us and others who need it. You remember those women from The Heart of Gold?" Kaylee explained.

"How could I forget, it's the first time I delivered a Baby." He said with a hint of pride. "It was a learning experience for all of us." Kaylee smirked.

"Well we didn't get paid for that." She paused. "'Cept for Jayne."

"Wait... So how did Jayne...?" Simon asked, then he stopped and saw the smirk curling at the corner of her mouth and he understood. "Ahh, of course." Simon remembered Jaynes behaviour at the Heart of Gold, he swore that man lived for only three things, money, guns and rutting. He hoped to himself that if he ended up spending as much time in the black as the mercenary that he would not end up with the same three things on his mind.

"And when we don't get paid for a job, it kind of makes things a little difficult for everyone. We can't get fuel, we can't get food, and we have to live off protein for a few weeks until the next Job. Captain knows this, but we still go out of our way and help folk. He don't like to talk about it, sometimes he acts if it don't even happen." Kaylee said. "So I think someone sent him something to say thank you for all the good deeds he does."

"You don't think whoever he had helped would have thanked him at the time?" Simon asked logically. Kaylee looked at him thoughtfully. She loved it when he listened to her thoughts, but he was terrible and imagining the impossible and tended to shoot down her ideas.

"Maybe, but what if that person didn't know who had helped them, and when they finally found out they had to send a thank you?" Kaylee asked. Simon nodded then furrowed his brow and tested the possibility.

"Can you think of anyone who could have sent it?" He asked. Kaylee looked at the ceiling as if she was going to find the names of people who could have sent it written there. They had done so many jobs, so many good deeds and so many bad deeds. Money came when it came and good deeds got done where they could.

"Not off the top of my head, I've been flyin' with the captain for two years now, and I can't remember every single job we've had or who we could have helped. But it is possible."

"You don't think if it was something from one of your jobs that he would share it with us, being his crew and all?" Simon asked. Kaylee frowned.

"I guess you're right, but it could have been from someone he knew before he met us, so he is less inclined to share it." Kaylee said. Simon smiled at her.

"You always see the best in people, don't you Kaylee." He said grinning at her. She smiled. "You believe that there is good in people, and that there are people in the 'verse who aren't just after money and gold."


	4. Money and Gold

Chapter 4: Money and Gold

"I think it's Gold." Jayne said stabbing is knife into the last bread roll. Zoe rolled her eyes and stared at her half empty plate. She was sitting across from him at the dining table. He had finished his meal in about ten minutes, but Zoe was still sliding the protein around the table looking at it with mild disdain.

"You always think it is gold." Zoe said as Inara poured herself another cup of tea and took a seat at the table. Jayne smirked.

"What else could it be?" Jayne asked. "Captain don't wanna share it, it's gotta be something valuable." he said matter of factly. "If only we could get a peek at it." He said longingly. His mind began to wonder at the possibilities of the contents of the box, and if he could steal it and where all the money would go once he had it.

"Captain told us to leave it alone." Zoe said sternly. "I'm inclined to follow his orders."

"I know you would." Jayne said taking a bite of the roll. "You're his first mate, his army of one. You always do what the Sergeant says. I wouldn't expect anything different." He said not unkindly but with a slight mocking salute. "But it don't stop me from imagining what could be in that box. Ain't no harm in imagining." His lips twisted into a greedy smile.

"But you're imaginings don't always keep you from harm." Zoe said. "Captain warned us away from it, I suggest you do as he says."

"You mean you ain't the least bit curious about what Mal is hiding from us or where he's hiding it?" Jayne asked with a surprised tone. His mind was wandering over the large amount of nooks and crannies about the ship where he could have possibly hid it. Jayne's instincts told him quite surely the captain would have hidden the box in his bunk and locked the door and his daydreams of accidentally stumbling across it were foolish. Ain't no way of getting in there without the Captains code, or Kaylee rewiring the keypad to open without the code. He scratched his chin. Getting Kaylee to anything was near impossible while her eyes were stuck so completely on the Doc he thought bitterly.

"I can see that greedy look in your eye." Zoe said. "Best be keepin' your sticky fingers to yourself or you may find your sitting in the airlock waiting to be spaced." her tone was heavy, it wasn't a light threat, she was serious. If he was to go looking for the box he would have Mal and Zoe to contend with and his life was worth more than what could possibly hidden in that box.

"I still think it's money, if it ain't gold." Jayne said. "We ain't had enough hard coin lately. Dealin' in credits seems more risky lately. Makes it easier for the Captain not to share with his crew if we don't know what's in it." He took another bite of his roll and swallowed hard.

"The Captain doesn't think that way." Inara said breaking her silence.

"Damn straight he does." Jayne said turning to look at Inara "Mal is always thinkin' about profit, can't run a ship without thinkin' about profit. Sure Mal does things that ain't seemly for a Captain of this kind of crew doin' our kind of work, but the truth of it is, he still thinks about money. If it's not cold hard cash, it's refuelin' the ship, or payin' and feedin' his crew." Jayne said. "Man can't live in the black without thinkin' on coin."

"It explains your behaviour Jayne, but it doesn't explain Mals." Inara said. Jayne smirked disdainfully and moved his eyes to the companion who he as well as everyone else on the ship knew was in love with the captain. He often wondered what the captain saw in her, because like everyone else, he could see the Captain was in love with her too. He found it amusing that Mal wasn't interested in sharing the contents of the box with her, which made him think it was either dangerous, or valuable, or both.

He turned away from Inara and shoved the last of the roll in his mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

"Now, I'm sure both of you, despite the fact you don't want to go lookin' for the box, are wonderin' what Mal is hidin' in that there box." Jayne said. "I'm sure it's on both your minds, as cunnin' and intelligent as you both like to think I'm not, you're as curious as I am."

"Doubtful." Inara said rolling her eyes and pretending to yawn. Jayne smirked and stood up from the table.

"Yeah, I'm sure." Jayne said sarcastically as he walked off. "I'll be in my Bunk."


	5. Message from the Past

Chapter 5: Message from the Past

"You _are_ thinking about that box aren't you Zoe?" Inara said.

"I'm concerned is all." She said. "Don't want to let the crew know how worried I am." She said. "Captain isn't often so secretive. I have this feeling that he's received some sort of news."

"What kind of news?" Inara asked. Zoe leaned forward and lowered her tone to a barely audible whisper.

"After Miranda, he started getting waves and letters from Browncoats. People who still had hope for the end of the alliance; hope for some kind of independence. People who had gotten wind of who was involved with Miranda. When some of the Browncoats heard it was one of their own, flags went up everywhere. Folk started talking about another war, another uprising." Zoe said. She knew Mal didn't want the others to know, but telling Inara was definitely better than telling Jayne or Simon, or even Kaylee what had been happening. "He didn't reply to any of them, and he told me not to reply to any of the ones I got. He told me no good will come from another war, and he didn't want any more blood on his hands. He said, the Browncoats are too few in number, that there would be no way to get an army big enough to take down the Alliance. He said, though they are weakened by Miranda, they are still out there." Inara gave Zoe a tight lipped smile.

"You think it is someone trying to get him to reform the browncoats?" Inara asked. Zoe poured herself a cup of tea and sighed, her eyes closed for a moment.

"I don't know. The fact he won't say makes me think it is something he doesn't want to be seen. Something that would convince the crew reforming the browncoats is right and it's the last thing he wants." Zoe sighed.

It was the last thing she wanted as well, but with Wash gone she had nothing more to protect. Her mind wandered to the tiny canister on her shelf that was the last piece of Wash she had. She still had one more chance at having the family she always wanted. She wondered if now was the time to bring a child into the world when there were so many uncertainties. Part of her wanted a piece of the people who had taken her husband from her. The other part of her agreed with the Captain, that there was no profit, and she was done with washing blood off her hands. She wondered if someone else was willing to take the job that so many wanted him to take.

She imagined him sitting in his room staring at the message inside, wondering the same things she was. She looked across at Inara who was staring at the contents of her tea cup. He would be thinking on her; wondering if he should take the risk and doing what they knew was right and leave her behind in safety or ignore it as they always did. Zoe sighed. It was not her decision to make.

"Maybe it's nothing." Zoe said. "Maybe Jayne is right, maybe it is gold he doesn't want to share."

"No, I don't think it is." Inara said. "What I know of Mal, if it were gold, he would share it with his crew, or the very least you."

"I hope it is not something that will cause trouble. I hope it's not something that will make him go on another crusade against the alliance. If it is, then we have no idea who we may lose this time." Zoe hid well the tears in her eyes. She gave Inara a small smile.

"You do know him better than I do. Perhaps we are all feeling curious about what he is hiding from us." Inara said. Zoe smiled.

"I've known Mal for more years than I'd care to remember. We've been friends through thick and thin. He's a man who gains respect and knows how to keep a friend. But this box is weighing on my mind more than it should." Zoe said. She had never really spoken of her long standing friendship with the Captain to anyone. He had given more to her than he would admit to. He was a man who chose his crew as if he was choosing his family. Zoe smiled, and she knew he would never willingly put them in harms way.

"He would never put is harms way without asking our permission first." Inara said. Zoe nodded in agreement.

"I think it's time I took a leaf from Jaynes book and go to bed." Zoe said finishing her tea and leaving Inara alone at the table to contemplate her own thoughts on what was in the box.


	6. Illegal but Honourable

Chapter 6: Illegal but Honourable.

Inara knew for a fact that Mal would never put anyone in harms way without making sure they were all on his side. She too was thinking about the contents of the box he had received and it was worrying her greatly; but the tea was relaxing her nerves. She always drank tea when she was worried.

She heard footsteps coming up from the passage behind her. She turned to see Kaylee looking slightly disgruntled walking up the passage.

"Good evening." Inara said. Kaylee gave her a weak smile.

"Don't know what you think is so good about it." She said haughtily before sitting down at the table and staring at it glumly. Inara sighed.

"Are you alright Kaylee?" Inara asked. Kaylee sighed and then smiled.

"Yeah, just Simon doesn't want to..." She paused "You know." She nodded her head suggestively and Inara gave her a small nod of understanding. "He says River has been acting strange since we returned with the post and he wants to run some tests." She sighed "He does't have time." Inara smiled and patted her genially on the shoulder.

"Kaylee have you seen Mal?" Inara asked changing the subject when she realised she had not seen Mal since he received his box. Kaylee raised her eyebrows and thought for a moment. She too had not seen any sign of their secretive Captain.

"Not since he left us at the Post Office." she said. "'Nara, what do you think he's got in there?" Kaylee asked. Inara furrowed her brow.

"Knowing Mal, no doubt something Illegal." She said jokingly. "But then again knowing Mal, no doubt something honourable." She smiled. The box was just another thing that intrigued her about the captain. She often found herself confused by his actions. Sometimes he would be the petty thief who was looking for the next job, and sometimes he would be the man of honour and he would go out of his way to help those in need. He had so many sides, some of which she was sure she had not seen. He could be so innocent, so naive and trusting, but he was not above killing a man if that man stood in his way or endangered his crew. He was more human, more real than any man she had ever met and she wondered what side of him would be dealing with the contents of the box. "Though I don't think it is something dangerous either way. What do you think Meimei?"

"Whatever it is, it ain't our business. Simon said it ain't polite to pry into another persons business without their permission." Kaylee replied.

"He would be right." Inara said. "But it doesn't hurt to wonder." Inara took another sip of her tea and at the same time River came bounding up the stairs behind them. She was holding Simons Stethoscope and grinning mischievously. Kaylee and Inara watched as she pressed a finger to her lips and hid behind the kitchen counter. Simon who was looking very confused and a little angry came running up the passage behind her.

"River!?" He called. "Where are you meimei!?" He leaned against the door frame catching his breath. His cheeks were flushed and his hair looked dishevelled as if someone had been rubbing something in it.

"She went up to the bridge." Kaylee said without missing a beat. Inara opened her mouth to speak but Simon had already bolted passed them and vanished to the bridge. River came out from behind the kitchen counter still wearing her grin. She sat down beside Kaylee and placed the stethoscope on the table.

"He'll come looking for it later." She said blandly. Kaylee smiled and picked up the stethoscope. Then an idea struck her and she cursed herself for it not occuring to her sooner.

"River, you read minds, maybe you can shed some light on what Mal has hidden in that Box." Kaylee said. Rivers smile grew wider.

"I do, I could, but..." River trailed off, her eyes glazed over and a look of calm fell across her face.

"But what?" Inara asked. Rivers eyes snapped towards Inara and she gave her a knowing grin.

"I'll never tell." River said with a wink. She stood up sharply and hurried out of the dining room and down the passage to the passenger dorms, leaving Inara and Kaylee to exchange confused expressions.


	7. I'll Never Tell

**_A/N: _**_In the next and last chapter we find out what is in the box. If you wish you can tell me what you think is in it (I really would like to know your theories). I should have it up before the weekend is out._

Chapter 7: I'll never tell

They were all chasing secrets like cats chasing mice. Their ideas were swirling around with her own like stars in a galaxy. She knew what the Captain was hiding just as well as the Captain. She was sure that he had an inkling that she knew his secret; however he didn't know that she wouldn't betray his secret. She walked carefully down the passage to the infirmary and hid inside, just in time to see Simon running passed. He was still looking for her, always chasing. He was her cat, and she his little mouse.

But he could never catch her. She was too quick and too smart and it was that same intelligence that kept her from releasing the Captains secret. The secret was more dangerous than the others and the Captain realised. If released it was a time bomb that would destroy the ship and its crew. She smiled, for something so innocent to cause so much damage it reminded her of herself. Dangerous and sweet.

She stepped out of the infirmary and sat down on the sofa. She smiled. They all carried their own secrets, ones she carried with her as well. She carried their secrets; it was how she felt connected to them without them even knowing it. She had been so used to carrying secrets not her own, that when the secret of Miranda was lifted, it was like a veil had fallen from her eyes and a new wave of understanding had flooded her.

Now so many months later she began to realise how much space that secret had taken up in her memory and she had felt empty. So she began to fill it full of small secrets; each one like a tiny drop of water making up an ocean. She thought about Inara's secret illness that she hid from everyone except Simon the doctor who was helping her. She thought of Simons' secret plans to return to the life he had before, and his lies to Kaylee about having tests to run on his ailing sister, to keep her at arms length until it was safe for him to leave. She thought of Jaynes secret crush on Kaylee, and how he would never admit it to a living soul, and how he had betrayed them all on Ariel. She thought about Zoe and her secret canister of Wash which could bring her a family if she chose to. And she thought of Mal, and his box.

So many dreams, and secret desires now filled her head, and without the same chaos that the secret of the Pax had brought her. They were not evil or terrible secrets. They were human secrets, and how she longed to have that normal human feeling. To know what one was thinking and saying at all times; to be irrational for a purpose and to hope against all else, and to lose ones self in daydreams.

Often she had found herself wondering at what her life would have been had she not joined the Academy and every time she did it came to the same point. She knew more at eighteen than some people would know in their entire life. She imagined she would be directionless, studying one thing until she lost interest and moving on. She would not have been happy on Osiris. Too many people had been jealous or confused or scared of her intelligence and her 'third eye'. Here on this ship she fit in because the crew did not fit in. She was happier on this ship than she could ever have been on any number of the core planets. That was why she would not reveal the Captains secret.

She stood up from the sofa and walked up to the dining room again. It was empty. Inara had returned to her shuttle, and Kaylee and Simon had vanished into Kaylees' bunk. She smiled; the stethoscope was still sitting on the table. As she leaned in to pick it up Mal climbed out of his bunk and locked it behind him. He walked down the steps wiping his hands on his trousers. He gave River a small smile.

"Evenin' River." He said. She smiled back at him.

"Your secrets safe with me!" She said brightly, saluting him with one hand as she picked up the stethoscope in the other and ran up to the bridge. She had spent enough time thinking and she had plans to defeat the dinosaurs that the Independents had strategically placed on the bridge to protect the equipment.


	8. Inside the Box

**_A/N_**: _Possible epilogue planned._

Chapter 8: Inside the Box

"That girl is still so odd." He said to himself as he made a cup of coffee. He was tired from the day and he had a lot of thinking to do. A lot of memories had been returned when he had first seen the contents of the box. He had not looked at it since he had peeked at it at the post. He was hoping what he had seen had been a trick of the light. If it hadn't been, he was unsure of its meaning or why it had been sent, if there was any reason to it at all.

He took a sip of his coffee, it was slightly burnt but he didn't mind. It was only something to keep him up while he considered what to do with the contents of the box. He unlocked his bunk and climbed down with his coffee in one hand, locking the door behind him with the other. The Box was sitting in the middle of the floor and the indentation on his bed showed he had been sitting on it for some time. He sat down in the spot again and set the coffee on the floor beside him.

He knew who had sent it, that part was clear. There was only one person in the whole gorram 'verse who could have sent it and it frightened him to think what kind of message came with it. He knew for a fact that the crew was curious about what he was hiding and if they knew, he shuddered to think about what would happen if they did. How they would think of him, how their opinions of him would change, and if he lost even a single shred of their respect then he could lose the ship. Jayne was always on the look out for an opportunity to take control of the ship.

And what would Inara think of him. She already thought of him as a petty thief, he always felt a twinge of anger at her words. She knew exactly what buttons to press to hurt him. He couldn't stop from loving her though, and to lose what respect he had he could lose whatever chance he had with her. He closed his eyes and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He decided he would have to open it. It was the only thing he could do.

He leaned forward and picked the box up off the floor. He sat it on his lap and ran his hands over the lid. On the top of the dark box was his name printed clearly in white in bold block lettering. He slipped the lid off the top and looked down at the object sitting in the pile of straw. It had been years since he had set his eyes upon Captain Ted and all the memories that came with him poured back. They had been through so much together, through thick and thin they had been friends. He could not remember when he had last seen the Captain; Mal was sure he had been lost somewhere long ago, never to be seen again. He smiled.

Even though it had been years Captain Ted had not changed. His light brown fur was threadbare, after so many hugs, washes and adventures. His small round button eyes stared back at him blankly. They were dark and he could see his reflection in them. The reflection had changed a bit from the last time he saw his face in those eyes. A small smile crept onto his lips as he gently picked up the teddybear and set the box on the ground.

Beneath the bear was a letter. He picked up the letter in one hand while holding the bear in the other and unfolded it instantly recognizing the handwriting.

"Dear Malcolm,

I cleaned out the attic a few months ago and I knew you must be missing him. There wasn't a day of your life he wasn't in your hands or in your bag. That is until you went off to war. I hope you find Captain Ted in good condition. And don't forget to give him a hug from me.

Love from your Mother."

Mal put the letter back in the box and held the bear with both hands and looked down at its eyes and embroidered smile. He brushed off the straw that had stuck to it and looked around his bunk. He was definately alone. He pulled him close and hugged him tight, feeling the familiarity of it and smelling years of dust eminating from it. He was reminded of all the hugs he had given Captain Ted.

"Stupid Bear." He whispered with a hint of a smile playing around the corner of his mouth. He was about it put it back into the box when a clinking sound echoed around his bunk. He looked down at his feet. A few old coins had fallen between his boots. He examined the bear for a moment and found a small hole on the back of its neck. He slipped two fingers inside and pulled out two more large coins. The memory of hiding pocket money in his Captain Ted came back and he grinned. It was of course the only logical place for a small boy to hide his money; in a friend who would protect it with his life.

"I might keep you around after all." He said.


	9. Epilogue

Mal snorted himself awake and looked around groggily. It took him a few moments to scramble himself into a sitting position. He turned the lamp on beside his bed. The light stung his eyes and he blinked away the pain to get them accustomed to the change in light.

The clock on the wall told him it was far too early in the morning for the crew to be awake. He rubbed his face with his hands and puffed air through his nose. He had been having troubled dreams, he assumed it was probably due to the numerous memories of his past that had resurfaced when he opened the box. He looked down beside him on the bed where Captain Ted lay silently. He smirked and picked up the bear. Mal wondered how long The Captain had been travelling and why it had taken so long for the bear to come through the post. It had been years since his mother had passed away. He shrugged, it wasn't a concern of his since the bear had arrived in such good condition.

His stomach rumbled loudly and he decided it would be fine if he raided the food lockers for a midnight snack. He was sure the crew would be asleep so he decided to take Captain Ted with him. His inner child wanted to show his friend the ship. He tucked the bear under his arm and climbed out of bed and walked to the ladder. He punched in the code and climbed up into the passage.

All was quiet and dark as he walked to the dining room with Captain Ted tucked under his arm against his chest. With one hand he searched a few of the lockers for something to eat. He was out of luck. He sighed and decided his hunger could wait until morning. He started walking across the dining room to go back to his bunk when he heard one of the other bunks open and close.

Mal became worried about who was prowling around and who was going to see him with The Captain so lovingly tucked under his arm. He stopped dead in his tracks and waited with his heart beating hard in his chest.

He saw Jaynes bulk walking through the doorway. Mal was suddenly filled with all the horrible thoughts of Jayne seeing the bear as a sign of weakness and taking control of the ship and shoving him and his bear out an airlock. Inara's mocking laughter filled his ears as he imagined Jayne telling the rest of the crew about Captain Ted. He imagined Zoe shaking her head and watching him disappear out into the black.

His train of thought ceased its chaotic spin when Jayne stopped dead in his tracks and their eyes met. They both wore the same surprised and frightened expressions which automatically changed to looks of utter confusion. Jaynes eyes fell to Mals chest where Captain Ted was nestled and Mal saw a white fuzzy rabbit with big floppy ears tucked under Jaynes arm. The rabbit looked to have seen as many hugs as Captain Ted, its fur had a few stains and it had a large patch on one of it's ears. They both laughed nervously.

"This didn't happen." Mal said waving his arm.

"I won't tell if you won't." Jayne said slightly nodding his head. They both walked passed each other as fast as they could and Mal vanished down into his bunk.


End file.
